Module 97: Product Development
User research
🏠The everyday picture
A tailor who measures the customer makes a shirt that fits. One who guesses from a photo makes a shirt that looks fine on the hanger and pinches at the shoulders.
📘What it really is
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Product development starts with the problem, not the solution: who has it, how painful it is, and how they deal with it today.
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User research methods:
- interviews: 30-minute conversations with 5 to 10 people from each user group; ask about past behaviour ("Tell me about the last time you looked for a tutor") rather than opinions about your idea ("Would you use an app that...?", which people politely say yes to);
- observation: watch people do the task now (how a coaching centre manages bookings with WhatsApp and a register);
- surveys: for numbers once you know what to ask;
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existing evidence: support messages, reviews of competitor apps, search trends, analytics.
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Good interview habits: listen more than talk; ask "why?" and "can you show me?"; note exact words (they feed your ubiquitous language, Module 93); don't pitch; ask what they already pay (in money or time) to solve it.
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Turn findings into insight:
- personas: short, research-based descriptions of key user types (a Class 10 student's parent in a tier-2 city; a part-time college tutor);
- jobs to be done: what the user is trying to get done ("find a trustworthy maths tutor near exam time, quickly, within budget");
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journey maps: the steps they go through today, with the pain points.
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Research ethics: get consent, explain how notes will be used, keep personal data minimal and secure (Module 79), and never pressure people.
🖱️Try it
Interview at least five potential users of the booking platform (for example, three parents or students and two tutors), using past-behaviour questions. Write up the top pain points with quotes, two personas and a journey map of how they find and book tutors today. Note anything that surprised you, and anything that contradicts your Module 91 requirements.
✅Quick check
Why ask about past behaviour rather than "would you use this?"
Show the answer
People are poor predictors of their own future behaviour and tend to say yes politely; past actions show real needs.
What's a "job to be done"?
Show the answer
What the user is actually trying to accomplish, in their own terms.